Education cuts and changes considered
The Education Committee heard testimony Jan. 24 on four bills containing the committee’s recommendations that were prepared over the interim in anticipation of budget reductions.
LB333, introduced by York Sen. Greg Adams, would remove the statutory requirements that the state Department of Education employ a student achievement coordinator and provide multicultural education. The changes would decrease general fund expenditures by $103,000 and $115,000 respectively over the next two fiscal years.
Additionally, the bill would transfer funds to the lottery fund to support the following programs:
• early childhood education grants;
• high ability learner grants;
• an integrated information system; and
• the Center for Student Leadership and Extended Learning.
Fees for teaching certificates and permits would be increased by $15 to cover costs for investigating and prosecuting certification violations.
“We have tough choices to make and we weigh one up against the other,” Adams said.
Bob Evnen, vice president of the Nebraska State Board of Education, testified in support of LB333.
“We feel that this bill demonstrates good faith at addressing a difficult problem,” he said.
The bill appears to be a fair resolution of difficult issues, Evnen said, and supports the best programs.
Jordyn Lechtenberg, president of Future Farmers of America Ainsworth chapter, also testified in support of the bill, saying that student programs like the Center for Student Leadership and Extended Learning need sustainable support for student leadership.
“We as youth value our experiences in these career student organizations,” she said. “They help us to be leaders in our respective careers. We want to do the best we can to make Nebraska thrive.”
Greg Keller, a journalism and English teacher at Lincoln High School, testified in opposition to the bill, saying that eliminating the multicultural program would be “detrimental and catastrophic” to schools.
Many people worked very hard to get the law enacted, he said, and it would be a mistake to undo their hard work.
The range of cultural and socioeconomic diversity in schools makes multicultural education more necessary now than when the requirement was enacted, he said.
Jessie Myles, a representative from the NAACP, also testified in opposition.
While some schools would continue teaching multiculturalism if the requirement were removed, others would simply drop it, he said. Many students from smaller school districts have never interacted with someone whose race or culture was different from their own, he said, making the program an important part of their education.
“The multicultural mandate was never for those districts who were doing it; it was for the school districts who were not,” Myles said.
Amelia Montes, a professor at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln and opponent of the bill, said the University has a significant number of students from diverse backgrounds who come from rural areas of Nebraska.
When they were asked how they got into certain jobs and programs, she said, many attributed their success to having a multicultural education at elementary and high school levels.
“The work we do at the high school level is key to getting students into the university,” she said.
The committee also heard testimony on three other bills brought by Adams to reduce education spending.
LB331 would remove a requirement that the educational television network of Nebraska have two production facilities. The bill would also eliminate the requirement that one of the facilities be located in Omaha.
LB332 would eliminate the $40 per diem for members of the Board of Educational Lands and Funds beginning Oct. 1, 2011. Members would continue to be paid necessary travel expenses incurred while performing board business. The bill’s fiscal note estimates a savings of $12,000 over the next two fiscal years.
LB334 is estimated to save $464,000 over two years and would:
• repeal a requirement that the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources employ a poultry pathologist;
• limit eligibility for the Nebraska Optometry Education Assistance Contract Program to students who participated in the program in the 2010-11 academic year;
• make operation of the Nebraska Business Development Center at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and the small business development centers at university and state college campuses permissive rather than mandatory;
• eliminate an aquaculturist position;
• eliminate a requirement that the University operate an agricultural lab in Box Butte County; and
• make the University’s request for general fund support for the Nebraska Safety Center permissive rather than mandatory.
The committee took no immediate action on the bills.
